Today's Soul Food — May 15
 

May 15

"Come and have breakfast." John 21:12.

God's suddenlies become our serendipities. Webster's Dictionary gives the definition of serendipity: "[Coined by Horace Walpole...after his tale The Three Princes of Serendip (i.e., Ceylon), who made such discoveries.] An apparent aptitude for making fortunate discoveries accidentally."

In his book, The Road Less Traveled, author M. Scott Peck, in his section on The Miracle of Serendipity (pp.253260), maintains that this is really grace: "...Grace, manifested in part by `valuable or agreeable things not sought for,' is available to everyone, but that while some take advantage of it, others do not...Let me suggest that one of the reasons we fail to take advantage of grace is that we are not fully aware of its presence that is, we don't find valuable things not sought for, because we fail to appreciate the value of the gift when it is given us.'" (Page 25758.)

Surely Jesus' invitation to the weary disciples was an unexpected grace, a serendipity. Come, dine with Me! He asks their companionship and is ready to provide their needs. Here is the sacrament and the ultimate union. Jesus treated His beloved as His friends. He did not demand that they come and serve Him, nor did He tell them to go off to the side and eat; instead, He served them and ate with them. What a glorious testament and truth and treatment!

"...How much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!" Romans 5:15. Yes, many graces serendipities overflow in our daily life, but we won't find them unless we are tuned in to God's love, and unless we are most grateful for His providence. We can view providence as either fate or foresight; providence is the gift of the awareness of His many gifts!

Pat Nordman ©

Current Bible Question ?

The prophet Agabus took what article of Paul's to demonstrate how Paul would be bound and turned over to the Gentiles?

Previous question and Answer: Who was struck dumb by the Lord and was then only able to speak when the Lord gave him something to say? Ezekiel (Ezekiel 3:25-27)

Today's  Devotion

..and by his light I walked through darkness!    JOB 29:3 NIV

Law of Accountability by Pat Nordman   "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21           If someone has done what we consider wrongdoing, we do not have the right to make their wrong our right to avenge, for only God can assess motivations.

I remark, then, that a man is overcome of evil - 1. When ill-treatment excites the angry passions. . . 2. When he settles down into confirmed hatred of the offender. . . 3. When he indulges designs of revenge. 4. When the ill-treatment of one leads us to suspect the friendship of others. 5. When abuse begets habitual sourness of temper. 6. When he attempts unnecessarily a public vindication of his character." D.A. Clark. From The Biblical illustrator, Romans, pages 550,551. In Romans 12 Paul is more concerned with our responsibilities than our rights. There is a law of accountability that presupposes obligations to our brothers and sisters, for we are not islands unto ourselves. If someone has done what we consider wrongdoing, we do not have the right to make their wrong our right to avenge, for only God can assess motivations. We do have a responsibility to keep our own heart right in relation to that person. We should be on our knees with words of love for the person instead of words of anger and gossip on our tongues, making the situation much worse. A story is told of a duke who wanted to war against one of his peaceful neighbors. The troops rode into the town and found the children playing in the streets and the people at their usual occupations. They pulled up their horses and asked one of the workers, "Where is the enemy?" The man replied, "I don't know. We're your friends." There was nothing left to do but ride back home. The duke was disarmed by goodness and innocence. "Do not return evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary bless. . ." 1 Peter 3:9 RSV. There are times when this seems impossible! Ask Jesus to stand between you and the one who has hurt you; let Him be your Filter.

Send a note to © Pat Nordman , the writer of this devotion

More Walking Through the Darkness

All the Rest May 15, 2001

Today in History May 15